Inside the Haleon & Microsoft Deal to Automate Global Health

UK consumer health company Haleon, which owns brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, Panadol and Advil painkillers and Centrum vitamins, plans to scale its digital, data and AI capabilities with a new five-year collaboration with Microsoft. 

Haleon operates in 170 markets across six categories, with its trusted brands reaching an estimated 1.4 billion consumers worldwide.

Building on Haleon’s existing use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, this agreement accelerates the company-wide adoption of AI by empowering employees to automate administrative work, streamline collaboration and focus on high-value priorities. 

The companies will co-create high-impact AI use cases, which deliver value across multiple critical functions, from consumer insights and innovation to supply chain and commercial execution.

To better serve consumers’ daily health needs, Haleon is focusing on driving faster scientific breakthroughs and clinical content production. 

The initiative will also contribute to its marketing with highly personalised content while enabling smarter, data-driven decisions across the entire organisation.

Claire Dickson, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Haleon, explains that this collaboration marks a major step forward in how the company uses digital, data and AI to deliver its global strategy, driving growth, improving productivity and building a more agile, performance-focused culture. 

She says: “We’re already embedding AI capabilities across the business, delivering measurable results and efficiencies in areas including consumer insights, marketing, R&D and supply chain.

“By combining Microsoft’s cloud and AI capabilities with Haleon’s deep consumer health expertise, we’re accelerating our AI progress – simplifying how we work, unlocking more value from our data, accelerating innovation and helping our teams make faster, smarter decisions to benefit our consumers.”

Microsoft cloud tools build secure foundation

Haleon is using Microsoft Azure as its primary cloud platform and integrating Microsoft Copilot into its daily operations. 

This setup equips the company with the robust, scalable infrastructure and data analytics needed to compete in a digital-first market, all backed by enterprise-grade security.

With reinforced identity protection and governance, Haleon can confidently protect its data and AI workflows while scaling its technology safely and responsibly. 

Darren Hardman, CEO of Microsoft UK and Ireland, explains that Haleon is moving with real pace and purpose on its AI journey, using Microsoft cloud and AI capabilities to turn ambition into impact across the entire organisation. 

He says: “From consumer insights and marketing to R&D, supply chain and decision-making, Haleon is already showing how AI can help teams work smarter, innovate faster and deliver meaningful benefits for consumers. 

“We’re proud to support Haleon as it scales AI securely and responsibly, helping the company unlock more value from our data and accelerate its mission to deliver better everyday health to millions more people around the world.”

The five-year agreement expands on initial productivity gains to secure long-term digital infrastructure. 

By establishing this secure foundation, Haleon ensures data governance remains compliant across all 170 operating countries.

AI use cases optimise global supply chain

The partnership focuses heavily on co-creating high-impact use cases across critical commercial functions. By deploying automated workflows, Haleon expects to achieve greater speed to market for new consumer health innovations.

Integrating data analytics allows the business to predict supply chain disruptions before they impact retailers. This predictive capability safeguards the distribution of essential medicines and daily health products globally.

Marketing teams also utilise the cloud infrastructure to build highly personalised campaigns safely. Data-driven insights ensure that consumer communication remains relevant, compliant and localised across six distinct categories.

The company-wide roll-out prioritises reducing administrative burdens to improve overall operational efficiency. Employees leverage Microsoft Copilot to simplify daily collaboration and automate routine report generation.

This shift allows research teams to dedicate more resources toward core scientific development. Faster clinical content production helps the business address emerging healthcare trends ahead of competitors.

Ultimately, the collaboration combines enterprise-grade technology with deep consumer health expertise. The resulting tools will help Haleon deliver better everyday health to more than one billion people.